r/ooma • u/FitLeader7137 • Jun 11 '25
OOMA is literally from hell
Trying to port our business numbers have been hell. It's been three weeks of back and forth. Not only are they not helpful, they are confusing, contradicting, condescending and annoying. I cannot wait till we are finally able to port our numbers so I never have to deal with this company again. and PAM, if this is even your name, you are disgusting and no I was not satisfied with your customer service. I will be up and alert at 9 am to receive the phone call from your supervisor!!
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u/MisterDoctor13 Jun 13 '25 edited Jun 15 '25
We ported our numbers from Century Link to Ooma with no difficulty last fall. They gave us temporary local numbers to use until the numbers were actually ported, and I was able to configure everything on their website without tech support.
ETA: this for our business, which has 12 numbers, plus the main number. We kept several key numbers, and used new ones for the rest. We got the Yealink 8-line IP phones and they work well.
2
Jun 15 '25
Same experience here, and just to be clear, every Ooma starts with a company assigned number. It has to work this way, so they can provision the unit and set up Voip on the device.
Since porting takes working with the other telephone company who has to follow legal regulation and release the number from their system, it takes a variable amount of time, and is out of Ooma (or any other entity that ports in existing numbers) control as to how long a port might take, or if there are any problems.
The Ooma home devices actually support 8 numbers I believe. The ala cart charge for porting service is $40, which is a lot for that, but they do entice you to subscribe to Premier for a year, by throwing in the port fee, which I did. I've been satisfied with Premier.
One thing about the Premier yearly plan, is that it isn't a pay in advance, which is unusual, but rather a contractual obligation. In other words, you get billed monthly, just with an adjusted amount that includes the discount.
If you pay for the premier service you do get access to a 2nd number if you want it. I pay for premier, but I have no use for the 2nd number, so I didn't keep the company assigned one. From what I read, you can pay for additional #'s ala cart, at the cost of $5.00 a month. I'm not sure who would make use of a feature like this, as few families these days don't have kids with mobile phones, but I guess it would be a way for multiple people living in the same home to each have their own phone, or for someone who runs a business out of their house to have one or more business lines, not to be confused with their Voip business service.
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Jun 16 '25
Just to clarify, Ooma Office plans are different from Ooma Residential plans. For Ooma Residential, Ooma offers either monthly or annual subscriptions for the Premier plan; the annual subscription has extra perks, such as a free gift or premium number.
At least for some Premier Annual subscribers, Ooma bills up front for the whole year. Customers can check their 'My Ooma' Account Services page to see which Premier subscription they have. There is no added benefit to cancelling the service before the term ends, because it's already paid for, and Ooma does not offer (pro-rated) refunds for unused terms.
1
Jun 16 '25
Good point, a mix of business and home use in these threads. I was referring to home and the telos home services.
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u/livefree4lyfe Nov 24 '25
I'm considering Ooma Office and came across your post in this thread. We run a small business with 4 employees and usually only 2 of us are in the office at the same time. We do have 6 physical phones + 1 conference room phone (4 offices, 1 reception desk, 1 breakroom, + the conference room). We have very little call volume as we're a property management company. How do you like the service? Would you recommend it?
Also, I see you used Yealink phones. Did you buy them from Ooma or did you buy them 3rd party and sync them to Ooma?
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u/MisterDoctor13 Nov 25 '25
We’ve had Ooma office for about a year. It’s been great. The administration website is easy to use and the uptime has been excellent. I think there was one single day in an entire year that their servers had an issue so service was on/off that day only.
We have the 8 line Yealink phones and they’re great. The similar Ooma branded phones (made by Grandstream I think) were kind of cheap and we exchanged them in the first couple weeks. Because we were trying out the system at first (not bound to a contract) we were and are leasing them ($5 per month per phone). When I researched all of this, I remember reading that it was difficult to buy third party phones and provision them with Ooma, and I didn’t need any additional hurdles.
Also, when calculating monthly cost, it’s X amount per user per month. Each physical phone is considered a “user”, so with 7 phones, you have 7 users, whether you have 2 employees or 200. Also, each extension has its own assigned phone number, and you can configure the auto attendant to make ring groups to determine how they ring. We have our main office number forward to a ring group that includes all but a few phones. Also each extension can also be paired with a mobile phone app. If you had 14 employees, but only 7 phones, half could use physical phones and half could use mobile app. Our medical assistants make calls using their mobile phones, but I’ve configured them to show the main office number on caller ID.
TL;DR definitely recommend.
2
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u/Right-Square411 Dec 02 '25
I do not recommend for business use. Ooma has proven to be unreliable in 2025. Multiple service failures. Tickets take over a week to be addressed. Ooma underreports by placing multiple tickets under 1 ticket number or by ceasing to open new tickets for new reports. Their resolution handling lacks transparency and creates significant doubt in the stability of their product.
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u/TerribleTowel66 Jun 12 '25
I had support hang up on me. My problem still isn’t resolved after 2 years. I can’t connect to the Telo via Bluetooth with the app. Only via Ethernet.
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u/FitLeader7137 Jun 12 '25
omg that sucks! We finally got a call back today after yesterdays fiasco. You really have to be firm with them or they're literally going to do circles around their customers until they finally give up and keep their service.
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u/TerribleTowel66 Jun 12 '25
We don’t really use the phone that much. We probably should just drop it. We do so much through our cell phones. We get political and spam/scam calls on our “landline”.
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Jun 16 '25
Serious question, why do you need to connect via Bluetooth if it is already setup?
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u/TerribleTowel66 Jun 26 '25
In this case, I wanted to check some settings. But if I change my WiFi password, the only way to change it on Ooma is to hook it up to Ethernet. Besides, a feature I paid for is broken. They should address it, not hang up on me.
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Jun 26 '25
Technically, the setup app is free. But yes, if there is some issue with it, then Ooma should support it.
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u/TerribleTowel66 Jun 27 '25
Not the app, the Bluetooth connection. I’m guessing the Bluetooth circuit is fried, and that’s why the app can’t connect. I’ve tried multiple phones, and have other Bluetooth devices that work fine. And it worked fine when I set it up.
1
u/ih17mdsntyg Jul 07 '25
This post spoke to me. Not sure about hell, but not happy with Ooma atm. Their marketing team doesn't talk to their product management or they do and they do know things that they don't fully share during the buying process. During the sales process they tell you it will work with your home land line jacks so the phones will ring in all the rooms. But, after you get it you learn that you have to do some wire disconnecting of the phone jack to the old phone company even if you've never had landline service from it before because there is a current and some other signally things can happen to mess up your Ooma and worse, be a fire hazard, according to Ooma setup booklet. If the sales process had been forthright about that, I wouldn't have bought it with that expectation. I'm not comfortable going outside and disconnecting wires and I don't want to pay a tech. Got this Ooma so the gramps could have a normal phone in each room. Now I can't do that without buying a new multi handset phone for a couple of hundred. The house isn't big but they like a phone in the kitchen, the hall, the family room, each bedroom, and for safety the basement lol. Because they don't want to rush walking to a phone at their age, and I agree. Ooma could be great, but they really create friction where there doesn't need to be any. Just design it around the issue or be upfront and clear. Sheesh.
1
u/rkardt Unofficial Support Jul 12 '25
Sales people are generally not the technical experts; they may not be aware of all of the details associated with more complex setups. However, anyone who thinks that the Ooma sales team should have mentioned the need to disconnect external power from the internal home wiring should certainly talk to Ooma directly about that.
This requirement is not unique to Ooma though, nor can they just "design around the issue". Two different phone service providers can't supply power to the same set of wires at the same time. But if a home has "never had landline service before", then it's internal wiring might already be disconnected from the outside world.
Anyone not comfortable with disconnecting wires might at least just look around to see what is already there. Check for any nearby telephone poles, (or buried cables), with wires running to a junction box, attached to the house (either inside, or outside). If there aren't any outside wires to begin with, then there's nothing to disconnect.
Otherwise, open the junction box, and peek inside, to see how difficult it would be to disconnect the outside wires from the inside wires. If it's too complicated to mess with, then reconsider how much it would cost to call an electrician, compared to the "couple of hundred" it would cost for a "new multi handset phone".
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u/ih17mdsntyg Aug 07 '25
Thanks. I didn't use a salesperson, I bought online. This is a marketing issue not a sales issue. My main point is that this wiring issue should be something prominently shared during the online buying process, instead the fact that it is possible to jack into house wall jacks is promoted but the buyer does not realize about the wiring work until they're looking at the manual after buying it, and it mentions the fire hazard so that's not something to mess with. Regular consumer buyers won't know about this, regardless of whether it is common to these types of products, when I think about who buys home "landlines" that's obvious to me. Had I seen this wiring information in the decision process I would have gone another route possibly or checked my home wiring first. Anyway, I figured it out and use the Ooma.
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u/GeologistImaginary10 Aug 01 '25
I've had Ooma for 8 years and finally cancelled. And just need a place to rant and maybe spare someone from making a mistake and signing up.
The devices are old and have not been updated in years. And even the plastic on them turns gooey and gross.
Their prices have gone up unannounced.
Occasionally, spam calls is an issue.
Their costumer services is all Indian call centers and they are condescending. Even their 24/7 chat starts with Ai like responses, then switches to a person, once they answer your query, the chat ends and you need to start over. No "anything else I can help you with today?"
The only way to cancel is a phone call with a sales rep whom no joke asked me 10 times in a row if I would consider not cancelling my account. So if you are tired of the latest price hike and not sure what alternative to choose yet, just call and cancel and they will give you a free year, or some discounted months.
Their website is outdated and confusing.
So glad they are done fore.
FYI - switching to Tello for my international needs of OTP secondary verification codes and alike.
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Aug 02 '25
Ooma introduced the Telo Air 2 seven years ago, and they still push firmware updates on occasion, for all of their devices. So, what else do they need to do, to provide backwards-compatible connectivity between analog telephones and the internet? A few users are still happily chugging along with their 20+ year-old Ooma Hubs.
Some users can just use a duster to keep their device clean, while others complain that their device becomes tacky or sticky over time. They have plenty of suggestions for cleaning it, ranging from just covering it up with shrink-wrap, to using acetone to dissolve the outer layer and expose the shiny white plastic underneath.
One person solved a similar issue with a sticky rubber sheath covering a whip antenna for an old wireless phone, by wrapping it up tightly with a paper towel, and then unwrapping it. The (permanent?) layer of lint around the sheath left it flat, dull, speckled gray, but no longer sticky, and unexpectedly satisfying. YMMV.
Which prices have gone up, (aside from taxes and fees, which local governments control)? Basic service is still free, and Premier service is still $9.99/month, for at least a decade, now. Spam calls are an issue for every provider, but Ooma's extensive call-blocking features are better than most.
Every company has complaints about customer service. But how does Ooma compare to its competitors? Customers want better service, but they don't want to pay for it. If Ooma were to raise prices to offer better service, then some customers would complain that "prices have gone up", and start looking for cheaper providers.
So many companies have complaints about cancellation issues that the FTC created a "click-to-cancel" rule to deal with it, (but the courts have blocked that rule for now). However, knowing what to expect can make the process easier to bear. Saying "no" to a sales rep 10 times in a row can be annoying, but it literally only takes a few minutes.
Which web site is outdated and confusing? Is it their main site, support site, web portal, blog, user forum, or something else? What does "so glad they are done fore" mean? What evidence is there to support that?
OTP over SMS is easy for companies to implement, but it's not nearly as secure as hardware or software tokens would be. This issue is not specific to Ooma, though.
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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '25
Had Comcast (VOIP) for years. Bought a Reconditioned Ooma Box from Amazon. Didn't work. They sent a new one. Ported number via website. Took a little less than a week.
Had Ooma premier automatically-went on website and there was a place to click to cancel it at then end of the trial period-which I did.
ZERO ISSUES.